I Should Have Been After You
by Lao Tse
Summary: <html><head></head>Puck and Rachel are friends and have been for a long time but somehow none of Puck's relationships seems to work out and both of them together with some friends try to figure out why. Longer summary inside.</html>


Author: Lao Tse  
>Rating: TPG-13, just to be on the safe side.  
>Pairing: Rachel Berry Noah Puckerman  
>Word count: +3,800<br>Spoilers: It should be none, but to be on the safe side all episodes air to date.  
>Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or its characters, they belong to Fox and the creators, the title comes from the song with the same name, <em>I should have been after you<em> by Rooney, don't own that either.  
>Summary: Puck and Rachel have been friends since they were both young, very young, and as they have grown up together, Rachel have been setting Puck up on dates but none of them have turned out in a relationship for him. Both of them are trying to figure out why Puck can't have a relationship.<br>feedback: I would love to know what you think of this.

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><p><strong>I should have been after you<strong>

"What was wrong this time?" Rachel asked as she looked at her best friend who was sitting in front of her with a mug of coffee, "don't say anything, and let me guess."

"You don't have to guess," he said as he looked at Rachel who was just shaking her when she thought about what she just had found out.

"I can't be setting you up on dates, Noah," Rachel said as she continued to look at her best friend, Noah Puckerman, they had grown up together.

Noah Puckerman and Rachel Berry had met in temple at the tender age of three, well Rachel had been three and Noah had been four, and ever since that day you would always find the together, and when they got older Noah had told everyone to start to call him Puck but Rachel had been one of the few people that had continued on calling him Noah, and he had given up on correcting her.

Rachel didn't know how many times she had been told that they would be the perfect couple but she didn't see it, and from what she could tell Noah couldn't see them together either, there for she had been setting him up on dates with every female friend that she could think of and it had been a variation of females that had passed by, there had been blondes, brunettes, you could name it and she had set him up with them and every single time there had been one date maybe three at the most but not one date had led to a relationship for Noah.

"You say that," Puck said and took a sip of his coffee, "But you still call me and tell me that you have a date for me."

"But I mean it this time," Rachel said and she took her purse and she walked out from the small coffee shop where they had been sitting, Puck didn't really realize what just had happened, all that he could take from what had happened was that Rachel once again had told him that she wouldn't set him up on anymore dates with her friends.

/

"You have a date on Saturday," Rachel informed Puck when they met up a couple of days later, he just laughed; this was how it always went.

"Are you sure?" Puck asked, as he paid for both of their coffees.

"Yes, I am sure," Rachel said and she sat down at one of the tables, in the coffee shop, "and I think that I have found out what your problem has been all this time."

"I don't have a problem," Puck said, and raised an eyebrow as he looked at the short brunette.

"You have been on so many dates," Rachel said and took a sip of her coffee, "I have lost the count and you have done the same, I am pretty sure that you lost the count of girls before I did."

"So," he said and shrugged his shoulder, "I still don't have a problem."

"Let's just say that you are right," Rachel said, she wasn't going to give in just yet, "so there for you shouldn't have a problem with going on this date that I have set you up on."

"Of course not," Puck said and that was it, Rachel did have some hot friends, and he wouldn't say no to a date with one of those.

"Great," Rachel said and she pushed her hands together, "You are meeting up here on Saturday and the two of you will decide on where you will be going."

"How will I know who it is?" he asked as he looked at Rachel, he needed to know who it was that he was looking for.

"Oh," Rachel said and smiled, "they will know who you are so they are taking care of that."

"Great," Puck said and he got up and he gave his friend a hug, "Some of have to work…"

"I work too," Rachel said and she held on a bit longer than necessary.

/

Sundays were normally spent together, starting around lunch, for Rachel and Puck, and this Sunday was no different than any other, well there was a small different, Puck had been banging on Rachel's door since 6.30 that morning, he had something he needed to talk to her about.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Rachel said as she was walking to her door, when she opened it and saw Noah standing there, she knew that he wanted to talk about the date last night and from the look of it he wasn't that happy about it.

"You could have warned a dude," Puck said as he saw Rachel standing in the door, with a tank top and a pair of pajama pants, and her hair in a messy bun.

"if I had told you, would you have gone?" Rachel asked when she realized what it was that Puck was talking about, "And I think this is conversation that we should have inside and not like this."

"So will you let me in," Puck said as he pushed her back a little, just so that he could get inside her apartment.

"What was it that was wrong with this date?" Rachel asked as she started a pot of coffee, she would need some if she was going to have a conversation with Noah about his date last night, even if she had an idea on what it was that was wrong this time.

"It was a dude, dude," Puck said as he plopped himself down on her couch, "I thought it would be one of your friends."

"Hey," Rachel said, she had finally gotten some caffeine in her system, "Kurt, happens to be one of my friends, and I also want to point out that I never said that it would be a girl."

"But it was a dude," Puck said, and he had a hard time letting go of that, he wasn't gay, not that it was anything wrong with that, Rachel's dads are pretty awesome, and Kurt was kind of nice and fun, after Puck had made it clear that he wasn't interested.

"I know that Noah," Rachel said and she sat down next to him on the couch, and she leaned her head against his shoulder, "and I did that just because I thought that it might be a better fit for you."

"But I am not gay," Noah said and he placed his arm around her back and she moved closer to him, "I thought you knew that."

"But all of your dates with all of my female friends has been disasters more or less," Rachel said, and even though she had caffeine in her body she was tired, "so I wanted to try something new instead."

"So we have that covered," Puck said and he smiled when he saw that her eyes were slowly closing, and soon she was sleeping with her head resting on his shoulder, this was nice, he could see himself spending a lot of his mornings and nights like this.

/

Rachel was sitting with a couple of her friends, all of them have been on dates with Puck, she had the idea that she was going to try and figure out what had made them realize that there wasn't a chance for a relationship with Noah for them, so that she could help him with it so that he knew to the next time.

"So, why did you not go on any more dates with Noah?" Rachel asked as she looked at a tall blonde, Brittany, who was sitting next to her, at the table there also was a Latina, Santana, another blonde, Quinn, and an Asian girl, Tina.

"Who is Noah?" Brittany asked, Rachel just wanted to hide her face in her hands, there were days when she wondered why she was friends with the blonde but then there were days when it was the best thing in the world.

"Britt, Noah is Puck," Santana explained as she looked at the blonde, Rachel looked at the two of them, there was something there, something was going on between the two of them but Rachel couldn't be sure of what it was.

"Puck, Noah, whoever he is, he is the guy with the Mohawk," Rachel said and she took a sip of her coffee, she had no idea why he still had that haircut, she had been sure of that he was going to grow out of it, but that had yet to happen and Rachel was starting to doubt that it would happen at all.

"I know how he is," Brittany said and she smiled, "he went on dates with all of you," Rachel nodded, letting Brittany know that she was right, "but he hasn't been out on a date with you."

"He is my best friend," Rachel said like that would explain why she hadn't been out on a date, okay that was a lie, they had tried dating in High School for about a week but that had been a bad idea and now she was staying as far as from that as possible.

"And that is why you should date," the tallest blonde at the table said, there were three pair of eyes on her, the only pair of eyes that wasn't looking at Brittany was Santana, she was trying to figure out the best way to stop Brittany from saying anything more, but the time was up, "I mean Santana and I are dating."

Okay, that was what was different with them, Rachel should have known, she had always believed that she had an excellent gaydar, but not when it came to her friends from the look of it. "And I guess that is the reason why, both you and Santana wouldn't go on more than one date with Noah."

"Actually, I don't think that was the problem," Tina said as she looked around the table, she looked at everyone but Rachel one at the time before she turned to the short brunette, "Puck has some things that he needs to figure out before he can be in a relationship."

"And so should you," Quinn said, everyone was looking at Rachel waiting for the girl to say something more but she had nothing more to say.

/

Puck had somehow stricken up a friendship with Kurt even since the kind of date that Rachel had set them up on, neither one of them had an idea on how it all had happened, the only thing that they could think of that they had in common was that Rachel was their friend.

"So," Kurt said as he was handed a coffee, "anymore dates that Rachel had set you up on?"

"None, so far and I think that she has done it for the last time," Puck said and he mumbled under his breathe, "I hope so at least."

"That would mean that none of the dates that she has sent your way have been up to your standards," Kurt said and tapped his chin, as he tried to figure out why it had been that way for so long time, from what the boy had learned, Rachel had been setting Puck up for years but nothing would last.

"Yep," Puck said and ran his hand through the mohawk.

"You know," Kurt said and looked at the young man that was sitting in front of him looking out the window, "I think I know what the problem has been all this time," Puck looked at Kurt like he was insane, "and I think that you know it too."

"I have no idea what it is that you are talking about," Puck said and looked away; he couldn't have any kind of eye contact with the boy.

"Noah," Kurt said, "I will call you Noah, because I know that Noah and Puck are two different people in the same person."

"I'm not schizophrenic," Puck said and looked Kurt in the eyes.

"I'm not saying that," Kurt said, "You see Noah likes Rachel but you have your Puck personality to think of and that one isn't like Noah."

"You are confusing me," Puck said and he scratched the back of his head, as he was trying to figure out what it was that Kurt was trying to tell him.

"So you are telling me that I have to spell it out for you?" Kurt asked and he shook his head, "You can spell right?"

"I can spell, thank you very much, and you don't have to spell it out for me," Puck said and took a sip of his coffee, it was starting to get could, "You can just tell me."

"I can tell you this much," Kurt said, he wanted to roll his eyes but he knew better, "You should just ask Rachel out on a date." Puck started to laugh when he heard what Kurt was saying, "You are laughing now, but I can promise you that you will thank me later if you ask her out."

"You do realize what you are telling me, right?" Puck asked and he was shaking his head, there was no chance in hell that he was going to ask Rachel out and he wasn't in love with her, he did love her after all but not like that, right. No he didn't love Rachel like that it was just Kurt how was putting things in his head with the way that he was talking.

"Just go on a date with her," Kurt said, "And if I am wrong I will take the blame for you, and if I am right which I am just so you know, you will buy me…"

"What will I buy you?" Puck asked, it wasn't like he was worried about it.

"Never mind, just let me plan the wedding," Kurt said and nodded, that would be a great deal for him after all planning a wedding.

/

Noah Puckerman was standing outside Rachel Berry's door and he was about to do the stupidest thing he had ever done, well one of the stupidest things he had ever done, he had done some stupid things in his life.

He took a deep breathe, and then breathe out the air, he raised his hand and knocked on the door, he wasn't hammering on it like he normally did, he was knocking gently, he could see Kurt in his head doing thumbs up, if Kurt would do that, well it was someone with Kurt's face at least.

He could see that Rachel was surprised when Puck was standing there, he was smiling to himself maybe Kurt had been right, Rachel was after all kind of cute, and she was Jewish and his mother already liked her, there were so many positive things about this, so it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Noah, as nice it's to see you here," Rachel said and she wrapped her arms around herself, "I'm not sure that this is the best time, I have to get to work soon."

"That's no problem; there is just one thing that I have to ask you." Rachel was surprised with how well-spoken her friend was at the moment.

"Of course, maybe you could come in and we can talk while I get ready," Rachel said and she let him in.

"Oh, it won't take that long anyway," Puck said but he walked in anyway, het if he didn't have to be in the doorway he was fine with that.

"So ask me," Rachel said and went to the bathroom and she walked out brushing her teeth.

"I have been thinking," he started and Rachel just looked at him,, "okay, Kurt has been talking to me and he made some great points, that is why I am here."

"I am listening, please continue," Rachel said and she spit out the toothpaste.

"You should go on a date with me," Puck said, Rachel dropped the toothbrush on the floor and her mouth was open, she could be catching flies or something but Puck chose not to say anything.

"noah, tell me that you are joking," Rachel said as soon as she had wrapped her head around what her friend had told her.

"I'm not joking," Puck said and looked at her, "look why don't you take the day and think about it and let me know later tonight.

"I can do that," Rachel said and she was still in shock from what Puck had been saying.

/

Rachel had called all of her friends and she had told them to meet up with her at the local coffee shop, they had all showed up, and they were now sitting and waiting for Rachel to tell them why they were there.

"Noah asked me out this morning," Rachel said as she sat down with the rest of them.

"So go out with him," Santana said and the rest of the nodded on agreement.

"I can't go out with Noah," Rachel said, "it would be weird."

"Look," Quinn said, "we all," She was pointing at everyone but Rachel, "have been waiting for this day."

"I have to agree with both Quinn and Santana," Tina said and looked at Rachel, "So go out with Puck."

"What do you have to lose?" Santana asked, "If it doesn't work out to bad but at least you gave it a try and you both can get your parents of your back."

"That would be nice," Rachel agreed, "but I don't want to lose Noah as a friend."

"He will understand," Brittany said and looked at them, they were all nodding "Santana and I was the same before we decide to just go for it."

This was how they all had decided on that Rachel was going to agree to the date with Noah.

/

"Noah," Rachel said as she was standing outside his apartment door, "I just wanted you to know that I will agree to this date you are thinking that we should go on."

"That is great, Rach, I will let you know the details later," Puck said and smiled to himself, step one was done, now he just needed a plan to go with it, and he knew what Rachel wanted out of a date, that was the great thing about this.

/

Puck had picked her up at her apartment, he had brought her favorite flowers, he had booked them a table for two at her favorite restaurant, he had opened doors for her, helped her out of the cab, he had been acting like the gentleman that Noah Puckerman was, he had been Noah tonight and not Puck, and he hoped that he would be able to continue on with that, he wanted to leave Puck behind him and he hadn't even realized that before he had taken Rachel out. This was all too strange for him.

/

"I just wanted to say that tonight have been great so far," Rachel said as they walked side by side through the town, he wanted to take a hold of her hand but he wasn't sure if she wanted him to do that, he let his fingers pass by her hand a couple of times, and then he felt her reach for his hand, he smiled to himself.

One more point, he was doing a lot of things right tonight and there were still a few hours left, hopefully he wouldn't screw it up to bad before the night was over, so that he would have one more chance to take her out.

"I have to agree with you," Noah said and he drew her closer to him, and now he held her more around her waist as they walked, "and I don't know why we haven't done this earlier."

"I don't think that we were ready for it before tonight," Rachel said and she bit her lower lip, this was the moment that would decide if there was something more than friendship between them. Rachel stopped for a second and so did Noah, they stood facing each other, both of them knew what was about to happen.

Puck leaned down, he could feel the warm breathe that was coming from the short brunette, and he knew that she could feel the same, he smiled at her, and in that moment, their lips met for the first time in years, in a kiss, and not a kiss between a couple of friends, this was more, as they broke the kiss they were standing there looking at each other smiling and they couldn't have planned it any better if it had been a movie because in that same moment, someone was setting of some fireworks.

"I think that we got out answer right there," Puck said and smiled at her before he leaned down and capture her lips in another kiss.

"I have to agree," Rachel said and she kept smiling the whole way home."

/

The two of them came walking in to the coffee shop a couple of days later, they were walking hand in hand, Rachel saw her friends sitting there talking and they had met Noah's friends earlier that day and they had taken the new development of their relationship great, well they were guys and all they had to know was that Noah now was in a relationship and they didn't really care who the girl was.

Kurt was the first one to see the pair and he looked at the rest of them, "just pay up," the girls that were sitting with him looked up and saw what he saw.

"Berry," Santana said as she looked at Rachel, "You couldn't have waited a couple of more days?" Rachel looked at her friend not knowing what to say, "You just lost me 50 bucks."

"And you made me a few dollars richer," Kurt said and smiled at the pair, as Puck took the chair out for Rachel, "So who hasn't paid me yet?"

"You bet on us?" Rachel asked, and she was a bit hurt.

"What did you think?" Santana asked and looked at Rachel first and then at Puck who was just smiling, he hadn't been happier, "It was the most obvious thing in the world."

**The End!**


End file.
